I think the big earthquake actually folded a piece of the crust of the plate on which Japan sits underneath Japan. That would explain the shifts, both horizontally and vertically, of the island. I think the almost constant earthquakes in that area since then are a result of this big piece of crust getting pushed under the rest of the plate and ground down. Once it passes, I wouldn't be shocked if that part of the crust (including Japan) sinks a significant amount into the ocean. It doesn't bode well, obviously.

I think the big earthquake actually folded a piece of the crust of the plate on which Japan sits underneath Japan. That would explain the shifts, both horizontally and vertically, of the island. I think the almost constant earthquakes in that area since then are a result of this big piece of crust getting pushed under the rest of the plate and ground down. Once it passes, I wouldn't be shocked if that part of the crust (including Japan) sinks a significant amount into the ocean. It doesn't bode well, obviously.

I think the big earthquake actually folded a piece of the crust of the plate on which Japan sits underneath Japan. That would explain the shifts, both horizontally and vertically, of the island. I think the almost constant earthquakes in that area since then are a result of this big piece of crust getting pushed under the rest of the plate and ground down. Once it passes, I wouldn't be shocked if that part of the crust (including Japan) sinks a significant amount into the ocean. It doesn't bode well, obviously.

wow. Joe Rogan just asked this question on the Mac Lethal podcast from maybe 3-4 days ago: "what if an earthquake hits Fukushima? we're already farked, but what would another earthquake or tsunami do?"

rickythepenguin:wow. Joe Rogan just asked this question on the Mac Lethal podcast from maybe 3-4 days ago: "what if an earthquake hits Fukushima? we're already farked, but what would another earthquake or tsunami do?"

rickythepenguin:wow. Joe Rogan just asked this question on the Mac Lethal podcast from maybe 3-4 days ago: "what if an earthquake hits Fukushima? we're already farked, but what would another earthquake or tsunami do?"

rickythepenguin:wow. Joe Rogan just asked this question on the Mac Lethal podcast from maybe 3-4 days ago: "what if an earthquake hits Fukushima? we're already farked, but what would another earthquake or tsunami do?"

Well, if one of the spent-fuel pools collapses (#4 being the most likely), you could suddenly have energy "too cheap to meter."

Going by the history of the region, lots of smaller earthquakes are going to hit and very likely another fairly large earthquake and tsunami (not AS large, but large) within 100 years, with a fair chance of it coming within 50. There were also major earthquakes and tsunami in 1896 and 1933, along with a merely strong earthquake in 1978, so I can make this prediction pretty safely. This is not counting the other ones in 1994, 2003, and 2005.

Incidentally, the reason Japan has nukes out in the sticks like Fukushima and Niigata is because they KNEW there was a distinct possibility for problems and wanted them to be away from major population centers like Tokyo.

Seriously, nuclear power is farking stupid. I have come to think there is no "smart" way to "have it all", but nuclear power is just hubris in action (we can "tame the atom"!). Fossil fuels are willful ignorance in action, as seen by my climate change denier PHYSICIST roommate (they aren't dirty or destroying our environment, and it's totally worth it no matter how bad things get!).

Now for something really scary. There are over 400 nuclear reactors on the planet. They all require being connected to the regular power grid for the electricity to run their cooling pumps. One good solar storm event, which is overdue, could take out the entire grid causing all the reactors to meltdown at the same time.

I suspect this isn't true, but if it was, do you know what the solution would be? Build new reactors. You know, the exponentially safer/self-limiting designs that have been available for decades but not built (at least in the US) due to political derp, causing us to continue using older models.

adamatari:Going by the history of the region, lots of smaller earthquakes are going to hit and very likely another fairly large earthquake and tsunami (not AS large, but large) within 100 years, with a fair chance of it coming within 50. There were also major earthquakes and tsunami in 1896 and 1933, along with a merely strong earthquake in 1978, so I can make this prediction pretty safely. This is not counting the other ones in 1994, 2003, and 2005.

Incidentally, the reason Japan has nukes out in the sticks like Fukushima and Niigata is because they KNEW there was a distinct possibility for problems and wanted them to be away from major population centers like Tokyo.

Seriously, nuclear power is farking stupid. I have come to think there is no "smart" way to "have it all", but nuclear power is just hubris in action (we can "tame the atom"!). Fossil fuels are willful ignorance in action, as seen by my climate change denier PHYSICIST roommate (they aren't dirty or destroying our environment, and it's totally worth it no matter how bad things get!).

Maybe we can just get hippies to run on a big hamster wheel connected to a turbine (with hemp rope of course). We can hang bags of Funyuns in front of them to keep them moving.